A slightly different Camping for PDKS

We are so much used to going camping with the KV group every year that the prospect of no camping this year since we are in India was a bit sad. We just love all aspects of camping and USA makes camping so much easier with many well maintained sites. India cannot match USA with respect to the camping facilities.

So the news that the Pune Kutchi Yuva Mandal was organizing an overnight trip with tent like accomodations came as a surprise. They were going to YMCA site in Nilshi – about 90 km from Pune. I was a bit apprehensive since we dont know that many people in Pune yet, but Dimple wanted to go strongly and hence we did end up going.

And it turned out to be a fantastic outing with Mother Nature. Here is a short description of the trip.

Registration for the event was to be done by submitting a paper form. There was option to choose to travel by the bus that they will be hiring or come in your own vehicle. We decided to travel in our own vehicle so that we can carry some extra stuff. We left Sat noon post lunch from home. This time our car was not as packed with stuff as when we used to go camping in USA. :-).

When 35 kms were remaining to reach the destination the road became very bad with lots of potholes and water. I had to drive really slowly. Fortunately the bad road lasted for 10 km only and then the road was somewhat better. At this point the scenery around us was really amazing. Everything green and fresh from the rain. Farms all around, green mountains and waterfalls at a distance. Did not seem like India at all.

Nilshi is not as commercialized as Lonawala. So there was less traffic along the way and no stalls and no garbage around. The last 5 km to YMCA was again bad and had to drive really slowly again.

It took us 3hours 15 min to cover a distance of 90 km in total. But at last we reached YMCA. The bus of Kutchis also reached at same time. In total there were about 120 people.

Upon alighting, hot tea + biscuits were ready in the dining hall. After having them, those who wanted to goto to the lake for swimming, kayaking were told to hurry up since it was already late evening. Some folks went to the lake and some stayed back in Dining room.

We were given instructions by YMCA staff about the rules. The rules included that everyone needs to wash their own dishes. And friendly warning that scorpions and snakes could visit us. So be careful in general.

YMCA has 5-6 prebuilt permanent tents which can accomodate 8-10 people each. They also have small rooms with 8 bunk beds with attached restrooms. Some people got the tents and some got the rooms. We got the bunk bed room which we would be sharing with another family.

Dinner was in the Dining Hall. YMCA staff prepares the dinner as such. So no need to take group food from home as we do in Camp KV. Volunteers from Yuva Mandal manned the food counter. Food was delicious. And then everyone did their own dishes. (Remember Men washing their dishes in India does not happen very frequently 🙂 ).

There was no campfire here. Instead we all went to a separate big hall and played some organized games theres. They played Queen of Sheeba here too and it evoked similar emotions like in Camp KV this year. 🙂 .They played Antakshari, Housie too.

Weather at night was cool and no need for fan as such. Slept well since we were on beds. Missed our sleeping bags during Camp KV though.

Next day morning we went on a very small hike with few friends. After having hot breakfast of poha all of us went to one of the waterfalls which was 10 km away. We parked our car on the roadside and walked 20 mins thru farms to reach the waterfalls. It was a really nice waterfall with our group being the primary occupant. Since its not as commercialized as Lonawala, it felt good that it was not too crowded. Everyone had lot of fun and then it was time to head back to YMCA.

After reaching YMCA we had lunch (delicious again). The Yuva mandal had brought Amul Masti buttermilk packs also which felt nice to have after the sumptuous meal.

After Dinner they did a vote of thanks to the main people involved in organizing this trip. Post the vote of thanks we headed home in our car. On the way back, we stopped by to take more photos of waterfalls and clear flowing streams.

Overall it was a nice nature outing but we surely missed our KV friends and Camp KV. But it felt nice to discover a serene and beautiful place like Nilshi so close to Pune.

Full Album of our trip to YMCA Campside Nilshi can be found here